1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to probes and, more particularly, to a probe for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that generates internal images of a patient body using ultrasound waves, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus refers to a non-invasive apparatus that irradiates an ultrasound signal from a surface of a patient body towards a target internal organ beneath the body surface and obtains an image of a monolayer or blood flow in soft tissue from information in the reflected ultrasound signal (ultrasound echo-signal). The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been widely used for diagnosis of the heart, the abdomen, the urinary organs, and in obstetrics and gynecology due to various merits such as small size, low price, real-time image display, and high stability through elimination of radiation exposure, as compared with other image diagnostic systems, such as X-ray diagnostic systems, computerized tomography scanners (CT scanners), magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatuses, and the like.
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a probe which transmits an ultrasound signal to a patient body and receives the ultrasound echo-signal reflected therefrom to obtain the ultrasound image of the patient body.
The probe includes a transducer, a case with an open upper end, a cover coupled to the open upper end of the case to directly contact the body surface of the patient, and the like.
The transducer includes a piezoelectric layer in which a piezoelectric material converts electrical signals into sound signals or vice versa while vibrating, a sound matching layer reducing a difference in sound impedance between the piezoelectric layer and a patient body to allow as much of the ultrasound waves generated from the piezoelectric layer as possible to be transferred to the patient body, a lens layer focusing the ultrasound waves, which travel in front of the piezoelectric layer, onto a predetermined point, and a backing layer blocking the ultrasound waves from traveling in a rearward direction of the piezoelectric layer to prevent image distortion.
The piezoelectric layer includes a piezoelectric member and electrodes provided to upper and lower ends of the piezoelectric member, respectively. Further, a printed circuit board (PCB) is bonded to the piezoelectric layer. The PCB is provided with wiring electrodes that are connected to the electrodes of the piezoelectric layer to transfer signals from the piezoelectric member. The PCB is connected to the piezoelectric layer by connecting the wiring electrodes of the PCB to the electrodes of the piezoelectric layer.
In fabrication of the probe as above, connection between the wiring electrodes of the PCB and the electrodes of the piezoelectric layer is a laborious operation, which requires significant fabrication time and causes deterioration in performance of the probe due to low durability and non-uniformity on the connection therebetween. Therefore, there is a need to solve such problems.